Emphasizing real-life communication skills, this book offers cooperative activities to help teachers supplement their writing programs with easy-to-use critical thinking activities. The 16 activities in the book are suitable for grades 4 through 8, for gifted younger students, or as a remediation tool for older students. The activities expose students to the following critical thinking: identifying premises and conclusions; identifying a sequence; understanding grammar's relationships of truth value; identifying relevant and irrelevant information; identifying fact and opinion; perceiving inferences; identifying cause and effect; understanding argument by analogy, identifying a conclusion not justified by given evidence, and recognizing words taken out of context. Each activity in the book asks students to read a scenario, engage in a group discussion of the problem (e.g., a radio debate about shark attacks) using a specific questioning strategy, and then either outline a response to the problem, form a complete written argument, or do both. (RS)